48 



THE fAUMEKS' REUISTEK. 



ilje dairy and kitchen. Il, beyond iliis, a breed 

 cat) be obtained, whioli will arrive ai eaily maturi- 

 ly, and wliicli can be advanta<^eously grass-led or 

 kepi at a small expense and in an improving con- 

 dition through the summer ; and being put up 

 to (atten early in autumn and forced as much as 

 |)ossibie so as to be sent to market early in the 

 winter, the farmer will ordinarily find a liur profit 

 in this branch of husbandry. A great advantage 

 i3 (bund in the keeping of swine I'rom the valua- 

 ble returns of manure, both in quantity and quality, 

 which are obtained from ihem, where care is 

 taken to supply them vviili raw materials for the 

 manuliiciure. Too much care cannot be bestow- 

 ed in the selection of the breed and the general 

 health of the animal when put up to feed ; and it 

 is strongly recommended lo every carelul larmer 

 occasionally lo wei<:h the animal and measure the 

 liied, that lie may ascertain seasonably on which 

 side the balance of debt or credit is likely to fall. 

 Nothing is more prejudicial to good husbandry 

 than mere guesses and random conjectures ; and 

 though the result of our operations may not meet 

 either our wishes or expectalions, an intelligent 

 mind will be always anxious as far as practicable 

 to know precisely how far they correspond with 

 or disappoint ihem. 



The profit of fatting pork with us has become 

 much more questionable since such vast amounts 

 of salted pork and hams are brought into our mar- 

 kets from Ohio and the far western states, 

 through the great and constantly increasing facili- 

 ties of transportation. It is judged that much 

 more than a year's supply is now on hand in the 

 city of New York, and the new has not begun to 

 come in. 



This must essentially afllect our markets. But 

 it is to be considered that to a certain extent our 

 own pork here will always be preferred ; and that 

 fresh pork, the lean pieces, will always be wanted 



in our market, vvith which the western pork canr 

 not at present come into competition, though altet 

 the experience of the last five years, it might be 

 almost rashness to say that our markets may not 

 yet be supplied with roasting pigs and fresh spare- 

 ribs fi-om Cincinnati. Then again there is on 

 every (arm a certain amount of refuse and ofl!'al, 

 which may be profitably given to hogs, and would 

 otherwise be lost. There is another circumstance, 

 which must go to the credit of our swine. Ma- 

 nure in Middlesex county is every where valued 

 at least at 4 dollars per'cord on the farm. A hog 

 duly supplied with the raw material, lor a hog 

 cannot, more than an Israelite, make bricks with- 

 out straw, will make three cords of valuable ma- 

 nure in a year. A sow well kept likewise may 

 raise a litter of pigs, and may be fitted lor ihe 

 market in the same year. These circumstances 

 may encourage us to think that, in spite of west- 

 ern competition, a certain amount of pork may be 

 profitably fatted among us every year. It is com- 

 paratively a recent discovery that apples are as 

 good for fatting swine as potatoes. This opinion 

 has been expressed to me by many farmers in this 

 county. Apples may be cultivated to an indefi- 

 nite extent and at a email expense. We ma/ 

 easily avail ourselves of this advantage. The 

 opinion of many of these farmers is, that they are 

 better given raw than cooked. This point will, I 

 hope, be made matter of experiment. The fat- 

 ting of hogs, however, is subject to so many 

 contingences, that under present circumstances, 

 excepting where extraordinary supplies of food 

 are easily obtained, upon a large scale, it can be 

 safely undertaken only with extreme caution and 

 care. Many, who have undertaken it, have been 

 unsuccessful. 



ERRATUM.— \oI. IX. p. 679, 4tli line from foot of 2d column, 

 for " enormously," read '' numerously." 



CONTENTS OF THE FARMERS REGISTER, NO. I. VOL. X. 



ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 



The Board of Agriculture and its designed ac 

 tion 



The importance of alkalies in soils . 



Grasses and grass culture of France 



Cure of mange in dogs .... 



Experiment of fattening hogs 



Notice of the Fourth Report of the Agricul 

 tural Survey of Massachusetts 



An essay on the making, the preserving, and 

 the applying of manures 



SELECTIONS. 



Maidstone Farmers' Club 

 Crop of corn stalks .... 



Report on orchards .... 



Exhibition of grapes to the London Horticuitu 



ral Society ...... 



To keep skippers from bacon . 



Papers on cheat and spelt, or darnel 



Grass and hay in Franklin county, Massachu 



sett3 ....... 



On the question of topping and stripping corn 



Harvesting the crop .... 



Page 



1 



4 



10 



12 



12 



12 



34 



13 



14 



Relative merits of Berkshires and Woburns — 



Banter from Mr. Mahard to Dr. Martin 

 Potatoes, gapes in chickens, tetter, mosquitoes 

 Constitution of the United States Agricultural 



Society 



Virginia salt mine 



Relative weight of grain and cob of Indian corn 



Broom corn 



Manures. Stable, cow and hog yards. Human 



excrement ...... 



Compost manure, principally of peat or swamp 



mud ^or muck) 



Saltpetre as manure 



White hogs 



Butter 



The age of cattle as shown by their teeth 



Berkshires 



Agriculture versus commerce .... 

 Hints on poisons ....•• 



Cockroaches • 



On lime as manure, and calcareous formations 



of the mountain region .... 



Management and breeds of hogs in Middlesex, 



Massachusetts 



Page 



15 

 17 



19 

 21 

 21 

 22 



23 



25 

 26 

 27 

 28 

 29 

 29 

 30 

 31 

 38 



38 



42 



